Everlasting Illusions :: The 12 Seals Of Fate ::
by melody lee
Summary: I suck at summaries... This fic's a supposed sequel to Tamers, although I know it'll never work. Mainly deals with Ruki and her family life, plus a whole new possibility for an adventure for a sequel. Chapters 3 & 4 up!!!
1. Prologue: Beginning Of The Dream

**Everlasting Illusions**

**Author's Note**

This is my first epic fanfiction, and my third one for Tamers. First of all, I have to make the note that most Tamers fans will be offended, either by how I wrote Ruki's family or about the Jenruki/Ryoki love triangle. It's still a popular debate, people. 

Names in this fic are from the North American version of the anime. I know you'll hate me, but for the sake of my wonderful audience, bear with me. The whole plot is original and if you spot any similarities, it's but a coincedence. 

Currently, I've finished only the first few chapters. And if time would allow me, more will come. Digimon is copyright TOEI Animations Co. Ltd. If you hate me or this fic, don't try and sue me - you'll only get 2 cents at the most - Monopoly money. Mwahaha... 

Okay. The names are from the Japanese version of the game. The ages are similar - even the adults'. I know I'll be condemned to death but I love the Japanese names too much, okay? 

Basically, "Everlasting Illusions" takes place 3 years after Tamers, with Ruki's shifting houses and transfer to Takato and the others' schools - which means, she meets Ryo. But no, that isn't the whole point. The story really takes of with an e-mail message from Yamaki saying that there is accumulation of data in West Shinjuku which may mark the resurrection of a truly powerful digimon. 

This fic is intended to be a sequel of Tamers. It was really, really sad and it was such an abrupt cliffhanger! *groans* This one also deals with Ruki's parents (mainly her dad) and the truth behind the McCoys and Alice. I never once followed the storyline of "Runaway Digimon Express", in order to finish the part about Ruki's father. 

This fic is dedicated to my best friend and confidante, Tiara. 

**Prologue: Beginning of the Dream**

_"You don't seem to get my point, do you?" Jenrya asked. Shaochung looked away.   
"I repeat - you don't seem to get my point, do you?" Shaochung was busy drumming her fingers on the table._

Jenrya rolled his eyes and walked out of Shaochung's room. Shaochung sighed. Why can't Jenrya be like any other people and stop being so serious all the time? She didn't want to see Juri, although she was plainly in the wrong. 

After all, why get so uptight over a book? True, Shaochung did lose Juri's notebook - but it was an accident, she argued. Truth is, Juri would probably forgive her, and she'll feel even more guilty. Shaochung dragged her feet out of the room. 

"Okay, okay. I'll see Juri tomorrow, are you happy now?" 

"Good. And be more careful with other people's things in the future, understand?" Jenrya said. Shaochung smiled in her usual, innocent way. 

Lopmon and Terriermon were hiding in a corner of the hall. 

"Why must Shaochung always talk back?" Terriermon asked. 

"Why must Jenrya always be so serious?" Lopmon argued. The two laughed and knocked each other's heads. 

* * *

Meanwhile, Ryo was talking to Takato through the phone. _"Ryo, do you think Ruki still hates you?" Takato asked.   
"I have no idea. But I'm going to see her tomorrow anyway."   
"Of all things, Ruki must apply for school transfer... I'll be so dead from tomorrow onwards."   
"Relax, Ruki's growl is worse than her bite. She's just mean, but she doesn't mean it, usually."   
"Like how she treats you?"   
"Yup..."   
"Are you sure she's okay with you?"   
"Could there be another answer?"   
"I still think Ruki hates you."   
"No - She can't hate me. Worse come to worst, she dislikes me."_

Takato laughed. As if. The last time he talked to Ruki (which was two days ago, by the way), she was ranting on and on about how Ryo pissed the hell out of her. And as how Juri puts it, Ryo's got everything right. He has the looks, the manners, the brains and all. But he just can't seem to learn to flirt with Ruki. 

_"Oh well... I nearly forgot. Homework - Can you help me?" Takato finally began.   
"Shoot," Ryo said.   
"What is the formula for density?"   
"Mass of an object divided by its volume."   
"What does Alma Mater mean?"   
"Something like a second mother in French, or something along those lines."   
"Who wrote 'Catcher in the Rye'?"   
"Takato, literature is my downfall!"   
"Who's your current crush?"   
"Very funny. You've got to try better than that."   
"What's the formula for finding the square root of an object quickly?"   
"Prime factorise it and group the prime factors. Shouldn't you know that?"   
"Hey, Juri borrowed my notes since Shaochung misplaced her notebook!"_

Ryo then hung up. He was going to annoy Ruki the next day. She wanted to study with Juri and there is a definite price to pay for it. He chuckled. 


	2. Looks Of Detest

**Everlasting Illusions**

Yay!! Finished Chapter 1 and the Prologue. Questions are very welcome, because I know ff.NET doesn't actually allow FAQs to be posted. *sigh* Any questions, put it in the reviews, and I'll get back to you ASAP. 

One again, Tamers doesn't belong to me... If only Konaka Chiaki would give the copyrights to me... *wails* **Chapter 1: Looks of Detest**

Ruki knew that she'll meet Ryo somehow, sooner or later. She wanted a school transfer, because her old school was very far away from her new home (she moved to the opposite street to Takato's house). But of course, there were people whom she would love and hate to meet. She wanted to see Juri and Shaochung, but hated the thought of seeing Ryo. 

Of course, Ryo could irritate her anywhere in the world - He had her phone number. She walked into West Shinjuku Junior High, looking around for Juri. 

"Hi Ruki!" Ruki felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned. It was Takato. 

_"Oh, hi Takato," she greeted, "Where's Juri?"   
"Juri's with Shaochung. Remember I told you she misplaced her notebook? She's gone to apologise."   
"Is Shaochung really so irritating?" A sceptical look came on her face.   
"Yes. Jenrya claims that she's ruining his life," Takato smiled. He thought Ruki was nicer in those days.   
"For crying out loud he claims that everything is ruining his life - including me."   
"Maybe Ryo will ruin yours too."   
"He?! The last thing I need is to have Ryo next to me, okay?"   
"He thinks you don't hate him."   
"True. I don't hate anyone. Ryo is just the person that I can't stand most on the face of this earth."_

Oh well. Takato walked Ruki to class. She saw neither Juri nor Ryo. Miss Sakamoto then introduced her to the whole class. 

"Class, this is Miss Makino. I hope you'll all welcome her as a new addition to our class." Ruki blushed, slightly. She couldn't stand these kind of situations. She was told to sit next to Kenta. Ruki didn't exactly like that, though. 

During the break, she met Ryo. 

_"Hi Ruki!" Ruki rolled her eyes.   
"Get out of my sight, will you?" Ryo sat in front of her.   
"Why?"   
"Because you are such a pain in the neck, get it?" Ryo raised his eyebrows.   
"Oh, really?"   
"I think you should know that better than me - Oh wait, given your pompous brain cells, I do not think so."   
"What if I don't get lost?"   
"Suit yourself. Then I'll leave." Ruki stressed so much on her last sentence that it turned somehow to a scream._

Meanwhile, Jenrya and Juri were looking at them from afar. Juri had been laughing all this while and Jenrya was looking disgusted at her. 

"Is it really so fun to laugh at?" he asked. 

"No," she answered, "By the way, do you know why two people who are full of themselves cannot be together?" Jenrya seemed to gave a slight nod. 

"You told me before - Because those two can never stand each other." 

"Yup. But it seems although Ruki can't stand Ryo, it doesn't happen the other way around. Weird." Juri choked on her spaghetti. Jenrya said that she deserved it for laughing at people. 

* * *

When Ruki went home that day, she was both irritated and disgusted at Ryo. Then, she saw her grandma. 

"Hi, you're back," she said. Ruki smiled at her. She's the only person who I really love in this family, she thought, unless she would ever have a father. 

During dinner (Miss Makino was out for a photo-shoot), Ruki asked her grandma if she knew who her father was. 

_"Why the sudden question?" Her grandma asked her back.   
"Nothing, just out of curiousity," she said. Silence. Ruki continued again, "But don't I have a right to know?"   
"Of course you do, dear. But... I don't think your mother even knows who he is."   
"Were you mad at her?"   
"Of course. But she insisted on keeping you - and you have to thank her for that."   
Ruki felt uneasy at that. "So, you don't know who he is?"   
"I..." Mrs Makino hesistated.   
"What?"   
"Nothing. I don't know who he is, and you are already doing well without him. Won't it be best if things were just left alone?"_

Ruki stopped asking at that. She thought she really had a need to know - or at least, just to satisfy her curiosity. If even her beloved grandmother won't tell her, would her mother? She never spoke to her about her father before, and Ruki guessed it won't be nice to ask her now too. 

After all, her grandma was right. She had been living all her life without a father, and she had been doing slightly well without one too. But then... Wait, Miss Makino came back. 

"What took you so long?" Asked Ruki's grandmother. 

"I had a photo-shoot, Mother. Didn't I tell you that?" 

"You know that I don't like you staying out so late!" Ruki looked at the clock. It was eight o' clock. Miss Makino shrugged. She went to her room and locked the door. Ruki didn't see why she should _love_ such a mother. Maybe her father would have treated her better, maybe... 

But she put away all those questions. She had to finish her dinner and do her homework. 


	3. Hints Of Mysteries

**Everlasting Illusions**

**Author's Note** Digimon is not mine... But I love Tamers so much... *cries* Okay. Chapters 2 and 3 up. Aren't you happy? So far I've written to Chapter 4, and maybe I'll take a little while to finish that and Chapter 5. But by then. all of you will be killing me, so should I fnish it? **Chapter 2: Hints of Mysteries**

Mr Lee called Jenrya and Shaochung into the study. 

_"I understand that the two of you love your partners, right?"   
"Okay, okay. What do you want us to do now? Cook them for dinner?" Shaochung asked. Jenrya shut her up.   
"No, Shaochung. I'm serious. Yamaki sent me an e-mail-"   
"Who sent you a what?" Jenrya interrupted.   
"Yamaki sent me an e-mail. He said that the remnants of data of a powerful digimon is accumulating in the south of West Shinjuku."   
"Given my knowledge of Yamaki, 99% of the time he talks crap," Shaochung began again.   
"There's no harm checking, right?" Mr Lee said again.   
"What's the name of this digimon?" Jenrya asked.   
"That you have to check with either Rob or Alice. They're better at identifying digimon from data. I have no idea myself. Oh yes, inform the others too."   
"Which Alice? Alice the Goth?" Shaochung asked.   
"Which other Alice do you know, twit?" Jenrya shut her up again._

Terriermon had been listening intently to this conversation. He had the feeling that something was going to happen but as for what it is, he had no idea. 

* * *

"Hmm... Yamaki said that there is accumulation of a powerful digimon data in south of town?" Ryo asked. Takato nodded. Besides the two, Alice, Ruki, Jenrya, Shaochung, Renamon, Terriermon, Lopmon and Guilmon were in the room. Jenrya knew that having Ruki and Ryo in the same room would lead to trouble. 

"What digimon is it, Alice?" Ryo asked her. 

"Millenniumon. Virus attribute, synthetic digimon, mega stage." she replied in a monotonous tone, reading from her notes. 

"Millenniumon?" Ryo hesitated for a second, then continued, "It's a powerful digimon, right?" 

"Ryo, you idiot. Yamaki won't yell at us if we are dealing with a couple of Gekomons," Ruki snapped. Alice nodded her head. She didn't exactly know what kind of a digimon Millenniumon was, or how powerful it is. But she knew it had to be powerful and dominant to be any threat. 

Then again, Yamaki believes that everything is threatening his life. 

Takato frowned. What could be happening? Shaochung didn't exactly seem to care and Juri was listening to the others. Renamon broke the silence. 

"So, what are we supposed to do, Alice?" 

"According to how Yamaki put it, we have to check out where the data is and destroy it," she said. 

"That's it! I'm tired of destroying data. I'm out," Shaochung exclaimed. Everyone stared at her. 

"Shaochung has a point. I'm tired of fighting," Juri said. Ruki understood their logic, but what if Millenniumon is really a threat? Renamon knew what Ruki was thinking. No one wanted to fight - but if they had to, they had to. 

"I guess the best option now is to just wait - and see what will happen. We can't just destroy data just like that," Alice said. 

"Okay, good. Now which of you seniors would love to help me with my homework?" Shaochung said, innocently as usual. Everyone rolled their eyes. 

* * *

Back at Hypnos, Yamaki was staring at the computer screen. Reika got him a cup of coffee and was fed up with the way he was working. 

"Sir," she began, "Miracles don't happen when you stare at the monitor for 6 hours on end." 

"Your point is?" 

"Yamaki, nothing will happen when you don't take action. That's what you said." And she left. He had the feeling that Ryo knew something about this, but wasn't sure enough to confirm it. Yamaki groaned. His life was in a mess, apparently. Reika came back. 

"Weren't you fed up with me?" He asked. 

"No, Mr Lee's on the line. You want to talk to him?" Yamaki went to the phone. 

_"Yamaki? This is Janyu." Mr Lee began.   
"What?"   
"I should be asking you that. What do you want the kids to do?"   
"I thought that was your job, telling them what to do. I want them to check the place out, understand?"   
Janyu felt like strangling him. "Isn't that the job of Hypnos?"   
"Then what is the purpose of having Tamers around?"   
Mr Lee was really mad. "Fine. I'll let them check the place out - so what?"   
"Check whether Millennium is dangerous, and whether he will reveal his true form."   
"Millennium? True form?"   
"Millennium is short for Millenniumon. As for its true form, you should know better than me."   
"You mean the fact that it's going to digivolve to Moon Millenniumon?"   
"I thought the Wild Bunch knew everything?"   
"No. We know a little of something, but altogether, that's everything."   
"Then combine that knowledge." Yamaki hung up on Mr Lee._

Yamaki shut down the computer, and went out, to Reika's annoyance. She wished he would be more serious and focused. 

* * *

Rumiko was walking on the streets with Ruki looking for a nice pair of shoes for her. Ruki saw Yamaki at Takato's bakery and so did her mother. (Rumiko didn't know Yamaki, technically) Somehow, her mother found something strikingly familiar about him. Ruki raised her brows for a second, then decided that everyone needs a life, and Yamaki doesn't have one yet. 


	4. I See What You Don't

**Everlasting Illusions**

**Author's Note** Yes, yes, my dears. If you haven't noticed - go log on to any Tamers Episode Guide site and search for Episode 36 "The Battle Within". Either that or you go to and search under Tamers, and then go to Character Profile (mind you, check the English version of the site). Then you'll understand what crap I'm talking about for the second half of the chapter. 

**Chapter 3: I See What You Don't**

Reika struggled to get out of bed. 8.49 am. Oh no, she was late for work. Yamaki would probably take 10% off her pay for that. She grumbled. What did she ever do to deserve such a horrible boss? Not that Yamaki really mistreated her or anything, but in a word that really fits well, he is _eccentric_. 

Yamaki joined Hypnos a long time ago - around the time the Wild Bunch started their projects. She counted, it was around 13 years ago. She was his neighbour, and was the first to help him. Megumi came a few years later, when Reika met her in college. 

Come to think of it, she didn't exactly hate Yamaki. She just couldn't stand the way he acted at times. 

* * *

"Alice, did you ever hate me?" Mr McCoy asked her. Alice looked away for a second. _I never wanted to, but you forced me to, she thought._ "Answer me," he said. 

"My feelings were long gone... Ever since he died," she answered. Mr McCoy choked back his tears. It seemed that he could cry at a _great occasion like this_. 

"I'm sorry, Alice. I never knew that..." At this, Alice got back to her usual self. 

"That's what you always say! You always think that others would like you to manipulate them. You're selfish, greedy and incorrigible!" Alice screamed. Mr McCoy got up and slapped her on the face. 

"I forbid you to speak to me in that manner!" _Make me. I lost everything the day Father died._ Tears were rolling down her pale, ghastly face. The dim light of the study made her seem like a wax figure, with neither life nor expression. 

Silence. Mr McCoy turned his chair, so that the two were facing back-to-back. Only half an hour later, did he speak again. "I admit, I was wrong to force Aaron into doing things that he didn't like. But did you think I wanted him to die?" 

Alice sniggered. "You were aware that he hated you, and his drawings. Yet, you forced him to do things that he hated to. When he died, I became his double. You made me do everything that he was supposed to." 

"But-" 

"Dobermon sacrificed himself to help the Tamers. You know you shouldn't have done that. Father created Dobermon especially for me - He was mine." Alice clutched at her brooch so tightly that her fingers bled. She could have run out of the room any second now. 

"Aren't you selfish yourself, then?" Mr McCoy said, in a gentler and kinder tone, "After all, Dobermon sacrificed himself, to save the world." 

"But Father killed himself - for you. All his life, his entire life, he had been your slave." At last, Mr McCoy cried, but he made sure Alice didn't see it. He felt as if he had lost two of his dearest family at the same time - Aaron and Alice. The two were so similar, both in their rebukings and argument. 

He knew neither of them enjoyed creating digimon and looking after their projects, but they must, in order not to let Shibumi and Janyu control everything. 

"At the end of the day, aren't I just your tool, to eliminate Shibumi, Janyu and Yamaki?" 

* * *

Megumi saw Reika running to the office. 

_"Gee, you're late again," Megumi told her.   
"I know, don't remind me. Where's Yamaki?" She asked.   
"Don't worry - He's not here yet."   
"What? I'm already half an hour late!"   
"Oh please, Yamaki's always late. It's just unfair of him to deduct our pays for being late, while he can get away with it."   
"I can't be bothered. Have you got Rob McCoy's letter?"   
"Yes. It's on Yamaki's desk."   
"Good. It's all about Millennium's data and power." Reika sounded rather anxious.   
"Sounds serious to me. Wanna go out for lunch together?"   
"I don't think I've got the time."   
"I know you're going on a diet, but it's not healthy to skip meals."   
"Who says that I am?" The two then heard a cough. Yamaki was here._

"Good morning," the two said. Yamaki didn't seem to take a look at them and Megumi frowned. She thought that he could have at least shown some basic courtesy to his subordinates. Yamaki called Reika into his office. 

_"Good morning, Sir," Reika greeted.   
Yamaki didn't look up. "Take a seat."   
"What in the world is wrong with you?" Reika was extremely pissed.   
"What do you mean?"   
"You didn't return my calls and you hung up the phone on me."   
"The point is?" Yamaki continued reading Mr McCoy's letter.   
"Fine," she said, exasperated. "Rob McCoy would want you to calculate the chances of the Millennium returning at all."   
No answer. "You're not trying to pick an argument, are you?" Reika questioned.   
"I'm not. I just want you to know that we have serious business at hand," Yamaki finally said, plainly.   
"Is work all that you care about?" No reaction.   
"Reika, help me look for Rosa," he said. Reika's brows furrowed.   
"Why the sudden feeling to?"   
"I just feel like it, and you have no right to question me in that way."   
"I get it. If you really hate me so, then just tell me straight in the face!"   
"I'm serious."   
"So am I."_

Reika left and slammed the door so hard that Megumi suspected something amiss. Reika noticed her expression, and prayed that she didn't know anything. 


End file.
